English Language Studied By 80% Of EU Primary School Pupils

A staggering 4 out of every 5 primary school pupils across the European Union study English as a foreign language, according to figures released by Eurostat. In total, when secondary pupils are added to the equation, that means 48.6 million youngsters across the EU are studying the language.

Across the EU as a whole, 47.9% of pupils study two or more foreign languages, and when this figures is broken down to the individual member states, an interesting statistic appears; in the UK a mere 5.4% of pupils study more than one foreign language. Ireland fares little better at 6.1%, Greece stands out with a paltry 0.6%, the lowest level in the EU.

Generally, the former Soviet republics show the highest levels, with a highly impressive 97.2% of Romanian pupils studying at least two foreign languages.